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Resources to Keep Timbits Active at Home!

7 April 2020 Angela Ballantyne

Resources to Keep Timbits Active at Home!

One of the most important parts of the Timbits Softball Program is having fun while being active! Learning Fundamental Movement Skills is the most important part of the Fundamentals stage of development. Realizing we are having to adapt the way in which we are being active right now, Softball Canada has put together a list of organizations with resources on keeping kids active while at home- all while learning the fundamental movement skills needed to participate in softball!

Being active for at least 60 minutes daily can help children:

Improve their health

Do better in school

Improve their fitness

Grow stronger

Have fun playing with friends

Feel happier

Maintain a healthy body weight

Improve their self-confidence

Learn new skills

While not all of these activities currently follow the government’s physical distancing rules, we implore you to modify these activities to ensure you are keeping yourself, your kids and your community safe! Take a look at some of these great resources we’ve found to get your kids moving throughout the day! Share how you are getting active with Softball Canada on Facebook and Twitter by tagging us @SoftballCanada #timbitsgetmoving

If you have a little one under 5 years old at home, then you’ve experienced what it’s like to try to keep up with an energetic toddler or preschooler. But did you know that kids this age need three hours of physical activity a day?

This list of 49 fun activities for kids is the ultimate go-to for any home setting. Whatever the situation, short attention spans mean that it’s a good idea to have a few of these up your sleeve.

Need some ideas to get your kids moving now that school is cancelled? Active for life has compiled over 200 activities to help you with ideas on how to support your kids during this time!

Sock Ball Throw & Catch and Sock Ball Batting

Here are two great examples Active for Life has come up with to utilize household items and work on some of your softball skills safely and inside! Give them a try and show us what you’ve got!

Sock ball batting

Make a sock ball using two or three pairs of large socks rolled inside each other.

Find a cardboard tube, roll a newspaper with tape, or find a plastic vacuum cleaner pipe to use as a baseball bat.

Choose a play space in your home that’s free of breakable objects or remove the breakable objects before playing. Play space can be a bedroom, living room, or any room where there’s enough space for a batter to swing the bat and the pitcher to throw the ball to the batter.

Two children (or child and parent) can take turns pitching and batting the sock ball.

If you have more than two players, the extra players can take turns as “fielders” (behind the pitcher) and try to catch the ball after it has been hit.

Sock ball throw and catch

Make a sock ball using two or three pairs of large socks rolled inside each other.

Choose a play space in your home that’s free of breakable objects or remove the breakable objects before playing. Playspace can be a bedroom, living room, or any room where there’s enough space to throw a distance of three to five meters without obstructions.

Two children (or child and parent) stand three to five meters apart and throw to each other.

Start with gentle underhand throws for young children and any children who are unfamiliar with throwing and catching a ball.

As throwing and catching improves, throw faster, throw overhand, and even try trick throws (such as throwing from behind your back, under your legs, or from behind your head).

It’s not easy to be shuttered indoors, but these are some simple ways that kids can stay active and distracted. Along the way, they’ll also be developing fundamental movement skills and physical literacy while hopefully letting off some stress.